Sample Exam:
1. Which country did Hitler invade, initiating World War II, and what tactics did he use to defeat them?
Answer: Hitler first invaded Poland using his Blitzkrieg ("lightning war") tactics.
2. True or False: Charles de Gaulle was proclaimed the leader of the Vichy government after the Germans invaded France.
Answer: False. Charles de Gaulle was the leader of the Free French forces. He fervently opposed the Nazis and the Vichy government.
3. Why did Hitler abandon his attacks against Great Britain in 1941?
Answer: Hitler faced strong resistance from the British during the Battle of Britain. Also, both the radar and Enigma technologies allowed the British to obtain information about Hitler's plans for air warfare in Great Britain. Thus, Hitler was unable to conquer the island, and decided to focus on North Africa, the Balkans, and Eastern Europe instead.
4. What was Hitler's Operation Barbarossa?
Answer: It was the name for his plan to attack the Soviet Union in 1941. It betrayed the nonaggression pact Hitler had signed with Stalin and the Soviet Union in 1939. Hitler employed Blitzkrieg tactics in Russia.
5. What did the Lend-Lease Act state?
Answer: Without being formally involved in the war, the US passed the Lend-Lease Act. It stated that the government could lend or lease weapons and supplies to any country important to the US.
6. What main event prompted FDR to declare war on Japan?
Answer: The Japanese military bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941.
7. True or False: The US won the Battle of Midway under the command of Admiral Nimitz.
Answer: True. The Battle of Midway was a turning point in the war against Japan.
8. What was General MacArthur’s island-hopping campaign?
Answer: MacArthur wanted to travel to the weaker Japanese islands that were not well defended. Using this tactic, the US forces would get closer and closer to Japan. MacArthur hoped to starve the enemy troops and intercept their supply lines.
9. What was the name of the set of laws that prohibited Jews from being granted German citizenship, jobs, and property?
Answer: They were known as the Nuremberg Laws.
10. Name two other solutions that the Germans created to solve the "Jewish problem" before the Wannsee Conference of 1942.
Answer: They tried to deport the Jews or send them to ghettos in Europe.
11. Name three of the six major extermination camps in Poland.
Answer: (ex) Auschwitz-Birkenau, Chelmno, Treblinka
(ex) Belzec, Sobibor, Madjanek
12. Approximately how many Jews died during the Holocaust?
Answer: Approximately 6 million Jews died.
13. Which two commanders were involved in the Battle of El Alamein for the Axis and Allied powers?
Answer: General Erwin Rommel (of the Axis powers) and General Bernard Montgomery (of the Allied powers) were involved in the Battle of El Alamein.
14. Why was the Battle of Stalingrad a pivotal event in World War II?
Answer: Stalin’s troops defeated the Nazis in the city of Stalingrad, preventing them from capturing the city. The Soviet Union was then able to push the Germans out of Russia westwards. Germany was now on the defense.
15. What was Operation Overlord?
Answer: It was the code-name for the invasion of Normandy in June 1944. The Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, eventually liberating France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and a majority of the Netherlands. The invasion was led by General Eisenhower.
16. What catastrophic event directly led to Japan’s surrender in 1945?
Answer: The US bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. The cities were obliterated.
17. What was V-E Day? When did it take place?
Answer: V-E Day—Victory in Europe Day—celebrated the Allies' victory. It took place on May 8, 1945, one day after Germany surrendered.
18. What were the Nuremberg Trials?
Answer: The Nuremberg Trials were held to convict the Nazi leaders responsible for World War II and the Holocaust. They were accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. Twelve were sentenced to death, while the other ten served prison sentences.
19. True or False: After the end of World War II, the Soviet Union and the Western Allies maintained peaceful relations throughout the mid-and-late 20th century.
Answer: False. After the war, tensions rose between the democratic nations of the West and the Soviet Union. The postwar period preceded the emergence of the Cold War.
20. Which four nations controlled the occupation zones of Germany after World War II?
Answer: The US, France, Britain, and the Soviet Union controlled the occupation zones.
Extra Credit:
1. True or False: In 1945, FDR approved the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan.
Answer: False. President Truman dropped the atomic bomb. FDR had died a few months earlier.
2. Which three Nazi leaders were not present at the Nuremberg Trials? Why?
Answer: Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and Joseph Goebbels were not at the Nuremberg Trials. They had committed suicide to avoid being executed or imprisoned by the Allies as Germany's future looked unbearably bleak.
1. Which country did Hitler invade, initiating World War II, and what tactics did he use to defeat them?
Answer: Hitler first invaded Poland using his Blitzkrieg ("lightning war") tactics.
2. True or False: Charles de Gaulle was proclaimed the leader of the Vichy government after the Germans invaded France.
Answer: False. Charles de Gaulle was the leader of the Free French forces. He fervently opposed the Nazis and the Vichy government.
3. Why did Hitler abandon his attacks against Great Britain in 1941?
Answer: Hitler faced strong resistance from the British during the Battle of Britain. Also, both the radar and Enigma technologies allowed the British to obtain information about Hitler's plans for air warfare in Great Britain. Thus, Hitler was unable to conquer the island, and decided to focus on North Africa, the Balkans, and Eastern Europe instead.
4. What was Hitler's Operation Barbarossa?
Answer: It was the name for his plan to attack the Soviet Union in 1941. It betrayed the nonaggression pact Hitler had signed with Stalin and the Soviet Union in 1939. Hitler employed Blitzkrieg tactics in Russia.
5. What did the Lend-Lease Act state?
Answer: Without being formally involved in the war, the US passed the Lend-Lease Act. It stated that the government could lend or lease weapons and supplies to any country important to the US.
6. What main event prompted FDR to declare war on Japan?
Answer: The Japanese military bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941.
7. True or False: The US won the Battle of Midway under the command of Admiral Nimitz.
Answer: True. The Battle of Midway was a turning point in the war against Japan.
8. What was General MacArthur’s island-hopping campaign?
Answer: MacArthur wanted to travel to the weaker Japanese islands that were not well defended. Using this tactic, the US forces would get closer and closer to Japan. MacArthur hoped to starve the enemy troops and intercept their supply lines.
9. What was the name of the set of laws that prohibited Jews from being granted German citizenship, jobs, and property?
Answer: They were known as the Nuremberg Laws.
10. Name two other solutions that the Germans created to solve the "Jewish problem" before the Wannsee Conference of 1942.
Answer: They tried to deport the Jews or send them to ghettos in Europe.
11. Name three of the six major extermination camps in Poland.
Answer: (ex) Auschwitz-Birkenau, Chelmno, Treblinka
(ex) Belzec, Sobibor, Madjanek
12. Approximately how many Jews died during the Holocaust?
Answer: Approximately 6 million Jews died.
13. Which two commanders were involved in the Battle of El Alamein for the Axis and Allied powers?
Answer: General Erwin Rommel (of the Axis powers) and General Bernard Montgomery (of the Allied powers) were involved in the Battle of El Alamein.
14. Why was the Battle of Stalingrad a pivotal event in World War II?
Answer: Stalin’s troops defeated the Nazis in the city of Stalingrad, preventing them from capturing the city. The Soviet Union was then able to push the Germans out of Russia westwards. Germany was now on the defense.
15. What was Operation Overlord?
Answer: It was the code-name for the invasion of Normandy in June 1944. The Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, eventually liberating France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and a majority of the Netherlands. The invasion was led by General Eisenhower.
16. What catastrophic event directly led to Japan’s surrender in 1945?
Answer: The US bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. The cities were obliterated.
17. What was V-E Day? When did it take place?
Answer: V-E Day—Victory in Europe Day—celebrated the Allies' victory. It took place on May 8, 1945, one day after Germany surrendered.
18. What were the Nuremberg Trials?
Answer: The Nuremberg Trials were held to convict the Nazi leaders responsible for World War II and the Holocaust. They were accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. Twelve were sentenced to death, while the other ten served prison sentences.
19. True or False: After the end of World War II, the Soviet Union and the Western Allies maintained peaceful relations throughout the mid-and-late 20th century.
Answer: False. After the war, tensions rose between the democratic nations of the West and the Soviet Union. The postwar period preceded the emergence of the Cold War.
20. Which four nations controlled the occupation zones of Germany after World War II?
Answer: The US, France, Britain, and the Soviet Union controlled the occupation zones.
Extra Credit:
1. True or False: In 1945, FDR approved the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan.
Answer: False. President Truman dropped the atomic bomb. FDR had died a few months earlier.
2. Which three Nazi leaders were not present at the Nuremberg Trials? Why?
Answer: Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and Joseph Goebbels were not at the Nuremberg Trials. They had committed suicide to avoid being executed or imprisoned by the Allies as Germany's future looked unbearably bleak.